Exterior of the Cathedral.

Interior of the Cathedral.

The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral (Spanish: Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires) is the main Catholic church building of Buenos Aires city, Argentina. It is located at the corner of San Martín and Rivadavia streets, in the San Nicolás neighbourhood, in front of the Plaza de Mayo at the city's downtown. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1280x960, 198 KB) Summary en: Description: Catedral Metropolitana, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1280x960, 198 KB) Summary en: Description: Catedral Metropolitana, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ... Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds; originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, and one of... San Nicolás de los Arroyos is a city in the north-east of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the western shore of the Paraná River, 61 km from Rosario and 240 km from the city of Buenos Aires (35º2030 South, 60º128 West). ... The city of Buenos Aires is divided in 47 barrios: Agronomía Almagro Balvanera Barracas Belgrano Boedo Caballito Chacarita Coglhan Colegiales Constitución Flores Floresta La Boca La Paternal Liniers Mataderos Monte Castro Montserrat Nueva Pompeya Nuñez Palermo Parque Avellaneda Parque Chacabuco Parque Chas Parque Patricios Recoleta Retiro Saavedra... Overview of Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo (Spanish: May Square) is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina; it is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets. ...

The building's style is neoclassical, with a prominent dome but not a traditional steeple. Lazienkowski Palace in Warsaw The neoclassical movement that produced Neoclassical architecture began in the mid-18th century, as a reaction against both the surviving Baroque and Rococo styles, and as a desire to return to the perceived purity of the arts of Rome, the more vague perception (ideal) of Ancient...

Daguerreotype of 1854 with the Cathedral.

The current building was designed by Turinesse architect Antonio Masella. Its construction began in 1753, and was finished over a century later. Even though the cathedral was consecrated in 1791, construction of its facade only began as late as 1802, during the government of Bernardino Rivadavia, from a design by French architects Catelin and Benoit. Construction was temporarily halted in 1827. It then resumed, and continued slowly to completion. L’Atelier de lartiste. ... Turin (Italian: ; Piedmontese: Turin) is a major industrial city in north-western Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the west bank of the Po River. ... Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia (Buenos Aires May 20, 1780 - 1845) was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827. ...

The body of General José de San Martín is entombed in a separate mausoleum reachable from the main body of the cathedral. (He was believed to be a Freemason, and was therefore not buried in the cathedral proper.) José Francisco de San Martín (25 February 1778 – 17 August 1850) was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the successful struggle for independence from Spain of the southern nations of South America. ... St. ... The Masonic Square and Compasses. ...

Five previous churches occupied the same ground before the current building. The first one was made of mud but it was destroyed in 1593; the second was inaugurated in 1608, but fell down in 1616; the third was constructed with wood brought from Paraguay but did not last long; in 1680 the roof of the fourth church inaugurated in 1671 fell down, forcing its total demolition; the fifth was designed by architect Bianchi, but by 1752 it had already begun to fall apart.

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Argentina
• Architecture of Argentina
• Archdiocese of Buenos Aires

The Roman Catholic Church in Argentina is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Curia in Rome. ...

External links

• Official site of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires (Spanish)